FASO Institutions will be allowed to hire foreign specialists through a simplified procedure

The new Governmental decree # 1355 of 11 December 2014 will foster Russia’s scientific development by introducing a simplified procedure for attracting qualified foreign specialists to Russian organisations operating under the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency for Scientific Organisations (FASO).

The legal basis allowing Russian organisations to hire foreign specialists by signing with them labor contracts was created by Federal Law 'On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation'. According to the law, in order to attract and hire a foreign citizen, the organisation must have a special permission. However, scientific and innovation organisations inviting foreign specialists to engage in research or teaching activities were exempted from the requirement to receive such permission.

The list of these organisations approved by Governmental decree # 93 of February 6, 2012 included, among others, organisations under the jurisdiction of state academies of science. When, according to the Federal law 'On the Russian Academy of Sciences, reorganisation of state academies of science, and introducing changes to selected laws of the Russian Federation', these organisations were transferred to the FASO, they lost the right to invite foreign specialists without a permission.

The new Governmental decree grants the organisations within the jurisdiction of FASO the right to invite foreign citizens as scientific or pedagogical personnel without having a permission to attract and hire foreign citizens.

Considering the reorganisation of the structure of the academic sector of Russian science, the new list also includes regional divisions of the Russian Academy of Sciences.